The invention relates to a sterilization tunnel in which sterilized containers are removed after each batch is run. After the passage of a batch of containers or at the end of a production shift, a sterilization tunnel of this kind must be emptied in order to assure that upon resuming production, packaging containers of a previous batch that could have become contaminated in the meantime are no longer disposed in the sterilization tunnel. To that end, as a rule, at the end of the container flow in the inlet zone of the sterilization tunnel, a bar-shaped emptying slider is placed onto the transport device for the containers, which is embodied as a conveyor belt, and pushes the containers or container parts disposed in front of it through the sterilization tunnel. Of critical importance, however, is the outlet region inside the sterilization tunnel before its outlet chute, at which the containers are transferred from the reversal region of the transport device onto an output plate. At this point, the emptying slider and the containers disposed in front of it come to a stop because the slider is not moved farther by any subsequent element. There are known, expensive mechanical embodiments such as ejection rakes or the like, which must be introduced into the outlet region of the sterilization tunnel from the outside in order to completely eject the emptying slider and the remaining containers. In order to prevent a contamination in outlet regions that can be sterilized, it is therefore often necessary, depending on the type of structural embodiment, to sterilize these parts before introduction into the outlet region.
The sterilization tunnel according to the invention has the advantage over the prior art that the emptying of the sterilization tunnel can take place manually or automatically in a particularly simple manner. Since no parts have to be introduced into the sterilization or cooling zone of the sterilization tunnel, the result is a particularly simple operation because no parts have to be additionally pre-sterilized.
Other advantages and advantageous improvements of the sterilization tunnel according to the invention ensue from the dependent claims and the description.